Top Team Notes:
- Buffalo’s power play finished the season at a league-best 24.5 percent success rate, marking the second time in franchise history that the Sabres have led the league in power-play percentage (1991-92 – 22.5%). It ranks as the third-best conversion rate in franchise history and the 15th-best by any team since the league began publishing the stat in 1987-88.
- The Sabres got at least 10 wins from two different goaltenders (Lehner – 23, Nilsson – 10) for the first time since the 2006-07 season (Miller – 40, Biron – 12) and had two goaltenders with at least five games played log a save percentage of .920 or better for the first time in franchise history (Nilsson – .923, Lehner – .920).
- Buffalo’s goaltenders combined to post a .921 save percentage this season, marking the fourth-best team rate in the league this season and the fifth-best in franchise history:
Team
Goaltenders
SV%
CBJ
Bobrovsky, Korpisalo, McElhinney, Forsberg
.925
WSH
Holtby, Grubauer
.925
MTL
Price, Montoya, Lindgren
.921
BUF
Lehner, Nilsson, Ullmark
.921
Season
Goaltenders
SV%
1998-99
Hasek, Roloson, Biron
.930
1997-98
Hasek, Shields
.928
1996-97
Hasek, Shields, Trefilov
.926
2009-10
Miller, Lalime, Enroth
.924
2016-17
Lehner, Nilsson, Ullmark
.921
Top Player Notes:
Jack Eichel
- At 20 years of age, Jack Eichel became just the fifth player in franchise history to lead the team (or tie for the team lead) in points before his 21st birthday:
- 1970-71: Gilbert Perreault
- 1971-72: Rick Martin
- 1988-89: Pierre Turgeon
- 1989-90: Pierre Turgeon
- Jack Eichel’s .93 points per game this season ranked him 11th among NHL skaters with at least 20 games played and were the most by a Sabre under the age of 21 since Pierre Turgeon (1.33) in 1989-90.
- From Feb. 14 to March 7, Jack Eichel recorded a career-best 11-game point streak (5+11) that tied as the fourth-longest streak in the NHL in 2016-17 and was the longest by a Sabre since Tim Connolly tallied points in 16 straight from Dec. 23, 2009 to Jan. 25, 2010.
- The streak included a nine-game assist streak from Feb. 14 to March 4 that stands as the longest assist streak in the league this season.
- The Sabres were 14-2-0 this season (22-5-1 in his career) when Jack Eichel recorded at least two points.
Brian Gionta
- Brian Gionta appeared in his 1,000th NHL game on March 27 vs. Florida, becoming the 312th NHL player (23rd active player) to play in 1,000 games. He was also the 43rd American player to reach the milestone and the 10th player to do so as a member of the Sabres.
- With his goal in the game, Gionta became the third Sabres player to score in his 1,000th NHL game, joining Gilbert Perreault (1/29/1984 vs. Pittsburgh) and Phil Russell (3/12/1986 at Chicago).
Evander Kane
- With 25 even-strength goals in 70 games this season, Evander Kane finished the season ranked ninth in the league with .36 even-strength goals per game. It was the best rate by any Sabre since Jason Pominville scored 30 even-strength goals in 82 games (.37) in the 2006-07 season.
Matt Moulson
- Matt Moulson finished the season tied for 11th in the league with 11 power-play goals. It was his highest total since the 2011-12 season and the most by a Sabre since Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford each recorded 11 in 2010-11.
Ryan O’Reilly
- Ryan O’Reilly ranked fifth in the league and set a career high with a faceoff win percentage of 58.0 percent. It was the fourth-best season by a Sabres center since the league began publishing faceoff percentage in 1997-98:
- Paul Gaustad – 59.8% (2010-11)
- Chris Gratton – 58.9% (2002-03)
- Chris Drury – 58.8% (2006-07)
- Ryan O’Reilly – 58.0% (2016-17)
- Ryan O’Reilly (21:27) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game for the second consecutive season.
Rasmus Ristolainen
- At 26:23, Rasmus Ristolainen averaged the most ice time by a Sabres skater in a full season with the team since Alexei Zhitnik (26:33) in 2002-03.
- Rasmus Ristolainen’s 24 power-play assists tied for fourth-most in the league this season and tied for 21st-most in a season in franchise history. It was the highest total by a Sabres defenseman since Garry Galley logged 28 on the 1995-96 season.
- Rasmus Ristolainen recorded an assist on 20.2 percent of his teammates’ goals this season, joining Phil Housley (22.6% in 1989-90) as just the second Sabres defenseman ever to recorded an assist on more than 20 percent of his teammates’ goals in a season.
- Rasmus Ristolainen’s 39 assists tied him for seventh among all NHL defensemen this season and were the 19th-most by a defenseman in franchise history. Only one other Sabres defenseman in the last 20 years has matched this mark (Brian Campbell, 42 assists in 2006-07).
Post-Season Press Conferences
Locker Room Clean-Out Interviews
Brian Gionta
SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres ranked in the top 10)
- Buffalo Sabres: 24.5% PP% (1st)
- Eichel: 4.1 S/GP (1st)
- Foligno: 279 hits (5th)
- Kane: 3.7 S/GP (5th)
- Nilsson: .933 EV SV% (6th), .923 SV% (10th)
- O’Reilly: 21:27 TOI/GP (1st, forwards), 58.0 FO% (5th)
- Ristolainen: 24 PPA (T-4th), 26:28 TOI/GP (5th), 39 A (T-7th, defensemen)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]
1-10: 4-4-2 (10), 23/24, 8/35, 26/31
11-20: 3-4-3 (9), 15/26, 6/31, 28/36
21-30: 5-3-2 (12), 31/26, 8/30, 13/24
31-40: 4-4-2 (10), 27/31, 7/34, 21/28
41-50: 4-5-1 (9), 28/33, 6/27, 21/28
51-60: 6-4-0 (12), 26/25, 6/25, 24/30
61-70: 2-7-1 (5), 31/39, 9/30, 24/29
71-80: 5-5-0 (10), 21/23, 7/18, 21/24
81-82: 0-2-0 (0), 2/7, 0/3, 6/7
OVERTIME RESULTS (6-6; 108-111 all-time)
Oct. 18 at CGY: L, 4-3 (GWG-Monahan, 2:26)
Nov. 11 vs. NJD: L, 2-1 (GWG-Greene, 0:29)
Dec. 5 at WSH: L, 3-2 (GWG-Johansson, 2:38)
Dec. 6 vs. EDM: W, 4-3 (GWG-Ristolainen, 0:57)
Dec. 16 vs. NYI: W, 3-2 (GWG-Ristolainen, 0:42)
Jan. 5 at CHI: L, 4-3 (GWG-Kane, 0:56)
Jan. 20 vs. DET: W, 3-2 (GWG-Okposo, 4:34)
Jan. 21 at MTL: W, 3-2 (GWG-Bogosian, 1:48)
Jan. 24 at NSH: W, 5-4 (GWG-Eichel, 2:35)
Feb. 2 vs. NYR: L, 2-1 (GWG-Kreider, 3:56)
Feb. 7 vs. SJS: W, 5-4 (GWG-Kane, 1:05)
Feb. 28 vs. NSH: L, 5-4 (GWG-Forsberg, 2:45)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (2-6; 69-64 all-time)
Oct. 25 at PHI: L, 4-3 (GDG-Giroux)
Nov. 9 vs. OTT: L, 2-1 (GDG-Ryan)
Nov. 19 vs. PIT: W, 2-1 (GDG-C. O’Reilly)
Nov. 23 vs. DET: L, 2-1 (GDG-Vanek)
Dec. 17 at CAR: L, 2-1 (GDG-Stempniak)
Dec. 20 at FLA: L, 4-3 (GDG-Trocheck)
March 4 vs. TBL: L, 2-1 (GDG-Point)
March 17 at ANA: W, 2-1 (GDG-Girgensons)
